High on Life 2, the much-anticipated sequel from Squanch Games, landed on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC on February 13, 2026, promising more of the irreverent humor, talking alien guns, and bizarre sci-fi antics that made its predecessor a surprise hit. With a Nintendo Switch 2 release scheduled for April, the game has already sparked lively debate among critics and players alike—delivering both bursts of creativity and a healthy dose of technical headaches.
For those not yet acquainted, High on Life 2 doubles down on its unique formula: a first-person shooter where every weapon is a chatty alien with its own quirks, dreams, and, occasionally, marital drama. The player, reprising the role of the nameless bounty hunter, finds themselves a celebrity after the events of the first game. But celebrity is fleeting in this universe. Five years on, after a whirlwind of talk show appearances and criminal takedowns, the protagonist is thrust back into chaos when their sister joins a resistance group convinced that humans remain under threat from alien forces. This time, the villains are a shadowy pharmaceutical company with sinister intentions—an evil organization that, as IGN pointed out, players will have “no guilt killing off members of over the course of the roughly 10-hour campaign.”
The game’s narrative, while energetic and packed with gags, has drawn mixed responses. According to IGN, “the story built around this string of over-the-top murder missions is a bit sloppy, with a couple big reveals that don’t really land and a surprising number of monologues to explain motives and technologies.” Still, the plot’s brisk pace and steady stream of jokes keep things moving, and the game’s willingness to embrace the absurd is a major part of its charm.
Humor, of course, is at the heart of High on Life 2. The game leans heavily on meta references, slapstick, and absurdist comedy, with about three out of five jokes hitting the mark according to Kotaku’s review. There are moments of genuine hilarity, such as a boss fight where the villain invades the player’s in-game menus, voiced by the legendary Richard Kind, or a murder mystery mission that swaps gunplay for clue gathering and interrogation. The game even pokes fun at itself and its genre—collecting floating letters in homage to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, or referencing classic memes like “All your base are belong to us.”
The talking guns themselves are a standout feature, each brimming with personality. New additions include a pair of bickering, married handguns and a repentant former assassin whose head doubles as a spike-firing assault rifle. Returning favorites like Gus, the shotgun-lizard voiced by J.B. Smoove, make a comeback, and while the original pistol Kenny (voiced by Justin Roiland) doesn’t return, he’s fondly referenced. As IGN noted, “all four of the new gun companions are awesome and have helpful abilities in both combat and puzzle-solving.”
One of the biggest gameplay changes in High on Life 2 is the introduction of a skateboard, which fundamentally alters movement and combat. Players can grind rails, wall-ride, and zip around arenas, adding a kinetic energy reminiscent of classic skateboarding games. Kotaku described it as “a blast as it moves fast and provides more ways to get around arenas during fights.” However, the skateboard isn’t without its issues—controls can be unresponsive, and its influence on combat sometimes makes already chaotic encounters even harder to follow. IGN highlighted that, “in combat, the skateboard’s influence isn’t so positive… you’re seemingly expected to never stop moving while fighting hordes of aliens, which makes the already chaotic encounters even more noisy and hard to read.”
Combat itself has been another point of contention. While the variety of alien enemies and weapons is impressive, reviewers have criticized the gunplay as inconsistent and sometimes unsatisfying. Enemies often fail to react meaningfully to being shot, and upgrades, while making it easier to dispatch foes, don’t fundamentally improve the combat experience. “A wider variety of guns hasn’t done much to make the sloppy and overly simplistic gunplay any better – in fact it even feels a touch worse,” IGN observed. Players are frequently forced to juggle movement, weapon switching, and environmental hazards, leading to what one reviewer called “an absolute diarrhea of pixels.”
Despite these gameplay frustrations, High on Life 2 is overflowing with creative ideas. Missions regularly subvert expectations—one might have you solving a murder mystery, another exploring a planet dedicated entirely to conventions (including a cheeky “Murder Con”). The game rewards curiosity, with hidden gags, collectibles, and even in-game retro titles like Bible Adventures making cameo appearances.
But for all its inventiveness, High on Life 2 is plagued by technical problems. Bugs are frequent and sometimes game-breaking: players have reported infinite death loops during boss fights, characters getting stuck in floors, dialogue cutting off, and performance issues—particularly on Xbox Series X. Kotaku’s reviewer, after nearly completing the 15-hour campaign, was unable to finish due to a bug in the final boss fight, noting, “I’ll have to hope that the game is patched and I can escape my infinite death loop and beat the final boss.” IGN echoed these concerns, citing “frequent framerate dips… and progress-hindering bugs that required me to reload the last checkpoint.”
The game’s trophy and achievement list is another draw for completionists. According to Insider Gaming, there are 32 PlayStation trophies (including a Platinum) and 31 Xbox achievements, with tasks ranging from navigating laser mazes and breaking vases to romancing 34 erotic worm monsters—a feat that can take over 100 hours. Some achievements are hidden to avoid spoilers, but they include everything from saving humanity to “joining the grand tradition of winning a court case due to basketball skills.”
In terms of lasting appeal, High on Life 2 is a mixed bag. Its best moments—when it leans into its weirdness and creativity—are truly memorable, and the world is packed with enough oddities to keep players exploring. But persistent technical issues and uneven combat keep it from reaching the heights of its comedic ambitions. As IGN concluded, “High On Life 2 is at its best when it’s trying weird and creative things, and when it manages to pull that off, there’s really nothing quite like it.”
For fans of offbeat shooters and those willing to weather a few bugs for a dose of mayhem and laughter, High on Life 2 is worth a spin—just maybe wait for a patch or two before grinding those rails and chasing that Platinum trophy.